An informative post.

This is what blogs should be for:

The Black Belt: How Soil Types Determined the 2008 Election in the Deep South

It's a fascinating little article about how soil types determined the 2008 election in the Deep South, from my friend Christian's blog. His blog is much more informative and learned and articulate than mine. I propose you read it instead!

An open letter.

Dear Mr. President-Elect,

I don't know about you, but I've been worrying a lot recently about the future, wondering what I can do about it, why aren't I doing more, what does it matter; and wrinkling my young face. Frankly, you are in a much better position to effect change than I, and we all think you've got the right ideas and the right character.

So, I'm gonna let you take over and I'm gonna focus on all my own shit, all the little things in my life that only affect me. I'm trusting you to handle everything else – I'm not gonna check up on you, not gonna hover nervously over my computer, not gonna continue my hourly routine of Andrew Sullivan, Glen Greenwald, 538.com, BBC News (I figure you've got the international stuff covered, too, right?), et cetera. We'll check back with you in three or four years, okay? Thanks for doing me such a huge solid. Give my best to Renaissance.

Sincerely,
Your pal Chris

To do something you never thought you could.

I listened to a radio show the other day, online, about the famous (infamous?) Milgram experiment. For those of you out of the know, this was a series of experiments conducted by psychologist Stanley Milgram at Yale University in the early 1960's. The experiments concerned the willingness of people to obey authority figures; Milgram hoped to shed light on the actions of Adolph Eichmann and his associates during World War II. In the experiment, the subject, thinking that he was participating in a study of memory, applied electric shocks of increasing voltage to a person in another room, who in actuality was an actor pretending to yelp in increasing pain. (Read more about it here.) What was fascinating about this radio show was that they were able to interview participants in the study, as well as play sound recordings from the original experiment. Near the end of the hour, one man wrapped it up neatly:

It's very easy to sit back and say "Oh I'd never do this, or that... nobody could ever get me to do anything like that." Well you know what? Yes they can.

It's a compelling hour of radio, and I highly recommend it. You can find it here:

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/ree_20081011.mp3

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A few days ago I bought my first ever package of "everything" bagels. For the first 26+ years of my life, I had been a plain bagel type of fellow, but suddenly, almost overnight, I now like, nay, prefer bagels with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and onion. It's shocking to me. But I look at my recent history, and the foods that I used to avoid and now enjoy: tomatoes, peppers (green or jalapeño) on pizza, guacamole (yes, there was a time when I disliked the green manna). I recognize, too, that the day will come when I choose onions and relish on hot dogs, or spinach in salads. It's very easy to sit back and say "Oh I'd never eat this, or that... I'll never want to eat anything like that." Well you know what? Yes you will.

Though I'll be damned if I'll ever like the taste of cilantro!

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You know what? Yes we can: